What kind of car are we talking about? Generally, oil lights are not something to take lightly, and red lights are usually more serious than yellow. Have you checked the oil level yet? What were the circumstances around the light flashing? Was it idling, or were you reving or cornering? Is the light still on?

Thanks. Its a 1.8t, 2002 quattro. It came on just minutes after I cranked it up. I had not even backed out of the parking lot. I drove it about 2 miles around the block, no issues, then parked it. I plan on checking the oil when the sun goes down. So far, its only yellow, and not a red light. Its not really flashing, it just came on and stays on. I am at 84,902 miles so an oil change is just days away. I always use Mobil 1, and do them every 5K miles on time. Not driven hard, or cornered hard.

Keep in mind the 1.8T consumes oil, I believe they say 1Qt is not unreasonable to eat up per 1K miles. So if you are at about 5K and it is eating up oil you might be really low and it could be the (excuse the term) "idiot light" letting you know you are about to be in trouble.

So, either low on oil, sludge or pump issue would be my guess. I hope it's just low oil. I would be really hesitant to drive it until you can get some more firm details on levels and such.

I hope its just a quart low? I guess thats possible? If its just a sensor issue, and stays yellow, rather than turns red, how bad would be to drive it a few miles a couple of times a wekk until I can afford to service it?

I doubt it would be a quarts low, if it is a true warning light for low oil it would be more like, you are off the dipstick type deal. You can add oil, even if you need a change. If it is low, add what you need to get you to your oil change.

If it is not low and the light is on, it could be the pump or sludge or sludge causing a pump problem maybe.

Also, after you check your oil level, clean up any dirt around the oil cap, remove the cap and see if there is any gunk build up on it. It's not a sure fire thing, but it could be an indication of sludge.

If it is starting to sludge you might be able to have them clean it. The eventuality of sludge is your engine dying. Do a search or look for a recent post on another members misfortune with sludge.

my oil level sensor failed last year. It was an $80 part and i had randy replace it when he did the oil change. It is on the bottom of the oil pan. Just check the oil and if you are at the right level you should be fine. Just make sure you are indeed talking about the oil level sensor and NOT the oil pressure sensor.

Got it fixed Friday. As it turns out the wires on the sensor had been eaten? Seriously. In my neighborhood, we have a LOT of rabbits, and one must have climbed up onto the undercarriage cover, and sat there and chewed my wires clean through. I saw the wires and they had little teeth marks in them. Dealer replaced the wires and covered it with a metal sleeve to hopefully prevent this again. Damn rabbit cost me $189.

You live down in south by park meadows don't ya?? My wire was chewed up the first night I took the car home like 2 years back. I ghetto electrical soldered it back together and it worked very well. You may wanna get an extra layer of electrical tape around the actual wire harness because the rabbits will be back.

I did, but I now reside next to the Broncos facility in Englewood. Next door are nothing but open feilds and lots of rodents. At least in HR, when I was there, there was the occasional coyote to stop some of that.